PERSPECTIVES ON PALEONTOLOGICAL PUBLIC OUTREACH IN CHINA: POPULAR DINOSAURS, PEKING MAN, AND LOTS OF FOSSIL POOP

China’s amazing paleontological resources continue to transform our understanding of the history of life on Earth, and those fossils also should have an equally great impact on informal science education. Paleontological knowledge and perspectives are changing among the Beijing population with knowledge of Chinese dinosaurs and human evolution growing, but many hurdles remain. Based around the exhibits of the Paleozoology Museum of China and the UNESCO Zhoukoudian ‘Peking Man’ site and museum, I run outreach programs educating the multicultural and multilingual public of Beijing. The programs are not simple tours of static exhibits and empty caves, but breath life into old bones with their evidence-based and diverse pedagogical designs (museum and school) centering on all participants working as active and curious scientists. Programs like “Peking Man and the First Beijingers” and “Night with the Dinosaurs” draw large numbers of interested people with informative ‘expert’ tours and active hands-on learning exercises for the children. I weave current paleontological research with historical subjects like the first Chinese dinosaur discovered and how ‘Peking Man’ helped to open modern China to the West nearly 50 years ago. The audiences include families and children (mostly ages 6 and up) from a wide variety of backgrounds, and have included children battling cancer (an underserved group disconnected from school and home for a year or more). A local company helps to recruit participants using mostly Wechat (parent) groups, word of mouth, expat/bilingual magazines, and even NGOs like the Girl Scouts. The children and families utilize bilingual printed materials to maintain focus, answer questions, collect scientific data (read, write, and draw), record observations, and perhaps most importantly develop thoughtful scientific questions of their own, synthesizing the activities’ experiences and information. I have leveraged discussions about dinosaur and hyena coprolites to gain the excited interest (and giggles) of small children, and describe the ‘Peking Man’ caves as hyena toilets. I assess outcomes and refine programs through feedback from returning participants, local press coverage, and ongoing video and written feedback from parents/kids (including a song about coprolites).